Philanthropist George Soros, a wealthy Democrat, leverages his money to shape policy. Here he is shown announcing a 10-year, $100 million grant to Human Rights Watch.

Written by

Christian Caryl
| Foreign Policy

WASHINGTON - Earlier this month, the investment bank Credit Suisse published its annual survey of global wealth. The bank's report is filled with illuminating findings, but one in particular caught my eye. It has to do with the distribution of assets in Russia, where, as the report notes, a mere 110 people own a mind-boggling 35 percent of the country's entire wealth. At the same time, 93.7 percent of Russians are worth $10,000 or less.

As the report notes, this makes Russia the country with the greatest wealth disparities in the world. Americans, who are now increasingly concerned about ...